Forgiveness
This week’s HealthCentral post ponders philosophically: “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that prisoner was you – Lewis B. Smedes I used to think of myself as a brain in a jar, my body some other being that I had nothing to do with. Who I was could be found in…
A Beginners Guide to RA: How to Be a Self Advocate
The latest Beginner’s Guide to RA is up at HealthCentral: “In communities of people who have chronic illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis, you often hear advice about becoming a good advocate for yourself — how it is an essential part of navigating the health care system and contributes to living well with chronic health issues. Self…
Reality Check
The search for balance continues in my latest HealthCentral post. And I may be on to something… “It had been another night of bad pain, of the kind that makes you rock back and forth in an attempt to block sensation with movement, even just a little. I’d had bad nights for weeks, each night…
A Beginner’s Guide to RA: Social Security
The latest in the Beginner’s Guide series is on Social Secutity for Disability: “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”~ Mahatma Ghandi A friend of mine once said that applying for Social Security Disability felt like she was declaring herself legally dead.” The rest of the post is here.
I’d Rather Be Working: An Interview with Gayle Backstrom
A few weeks ago, I interviewed a fascinating woman for HealthCentral: “As follow-up to my recent Beginner’s Guides to work and going back to school, I interviewed Gayle Backstrom, author of I’d Rather Be Working: a Step-By-Step Guide to Financial Self-Support Review with Chronic Illness. Gayle also wrote When Muscle Pain Won’t Go Away, the…
To Be or Not To Be
This week on HealthCentral, it’s about inspiration, dreams and rebuilding your life: “I don’t have a choice of whether or not I have Parkinson’s: I have it. But other than that, I have a thousand choices, and I can’t let myself be sunk by the weight of that one non-choice…” – Michael J. Fox, Entertainment…
Better Living Through Chemistry
My new HealthCentral post ponders drugs and why we take them: “I used to start the day with crying in the shower, hiding my face under the spray, silent tears of pain mixing with the water. Once the day got going, I’d build up the barricades again and distance myself from the pain, but in…
A Beginner’s Guide to RA: Back to School
More fodder for the reference area on HealthCentral: “When your RA starts to affect your ability to do your job, it can be terrifying, persuading you that your ability to lead a “normal” life is close to over. It doesn’t have to be. Retraining and education can help you find a new career, a new…
Predictably Unpredictable
My new HealthCentral post is up: “The other day, someone asked me why I couldn’t seem to learn to work within my limits, despite knowing that doing too much inevitably leads to needing to sit still for several days healing. For once I didn’t joke, but honestly told them it was because of the dread.”…
A Beginner’s Guide to RA: Workin’ for a Living
Building reference areas over at HealthCentral: “Work is important, especially when you have a chronic disease. Your rheumatoid arthritis may change how you live your life, adding an impressive list of medications to your daily “diet,” making everything from getting dressed to making coffee more complicated and require compromises in your social activities, your sleep…
Ch-ch-changes
This week, I’m having a bit of a rant about compromises over at HealthCentral: “Splints for your wristsA cane to lean onOrthopedic shoes that have room for swollen ankles and aching toesLoose clothes that’s easier to put on When you first get diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, no one tells you this disease may require equipment…
5 Things to do for the Newly Diagnosed
I’m back to basics in my latest HealthCentral post: “Living well with RA needs a box full of tools addressing different aspects of life with a chronic illness and together, take you where you want to go. If you’ve just been diagnosed, the following are five important items for your toolbox:” The rest of the…